First 5 Minutes of ‘Source Code’; Pee-Wee Herman Describes the Film

Duncan Jones, otherwise known as David Bowie’s one and only son, garnered a massive amount of filmmaking goodwill with his first feature film, Moon. One of the better films of 2009, Moon was critically-acclaimed and awesomely bizarre, with more than a little help from Sam Rockwell and Kevin Spacey.

Jones’ second film, Source Code, while still dealing in science-fiction tropes, looks to be several steps closer to the mainstream. Today, we have the first five minutes of the film, as well as an explanation of the plot from star Jake Gyllenhaal and (yes, seriously) Pee-Wee Herman.

Here’s the film’s official synopsis:

When decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens (Gyllenhaal) wakes up in the body of an unknown man, he discovers he’s part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train. In an assignment unlike any he’s ever known, he learns he’s part of a government experiment called the “Source Code,” a program that enables him to cross over into another man’s identity in the last 8 minutes of his life. With a second, much larger target threatening to kill millions in downtown Chicago, Colter re-lives the incident over and over again, gathering clues each time, until he can solve the mystery of who is behind the bombs and prevent the next attack.

The opening of Source Code doesn’t really show us anything we haven’t seen or been able to deduce from the various trailers and clips, but it does give us a sense of the incredibly tense nature of the film. Though Source Code is undeniably science-fiction – as far as I’m aware, we’ve yet to develop a way to travel back into the body of another human being, Quantum Leap-style – it seems to have more in common with suspense thrillers and Alfred Hitchcock films (The Lady Vanishes, Lifeboat). Which, in my opinion, is a good thing.

Obviously, this film doesn’t look to be half as bizarre or original as Duncan Jones’ Moon, but that’s okay. Sometimes, the only thing a semi-conventional sci-fi/action film needs is an utterly unusual filmmaker to put it over the top (see: Darren Aronofsky and The Wolverine, perhaps?).